USMLE & COMLEX Tutor in New Orleans

New Orleans has two MD schools teaching today, one private and one public: Tulane University School of Medicine, founded in 1834, and LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, founded in 1931 (school list). Both have been LCME-accredited since before 1942; Tulane's next full survey is due in 2026-27 and LSU's in 2033-34 (LCME). A third, Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine, holds preliminary LCME accreditation (2026) and has not yet seated a class (LCME).

The two older schools fill their classes very differently. In 2025-26 Tulane received 13,814 applications for 190 first-year places, and 15.3% of its entering class came from Louisiana; LSU received 3,865 applications for 195 places, and 87.7% of its class came from Louisiana (AAMC FACTS). So a Tulane classmate is more likely to be from out of state, while most LSU students are Louisianans.

Facts about New Orleans

Accreditation: LCME directory; applications, places and in-state share: AAMC FACTS, Table A-1.

ABIM internal medicine certification exam by residency program: ABIM residency program pass rates; ABIM says to read rates from under 25 takers with caution.

• LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine opens with a 21-month preclerkship phase, followed by seven core clinical clerkships and an elective for career planning. (LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine)
• LSU students may complete the clerkship phase at a regional campus in Baton Rouge or Lafayette, or stay based at the main campus in New Orleans. (LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine)
• LSU students take USMLE Step 2 after the third year and must pass it to graduate; the senior year includes two acting internships. (LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine)
• Tulane's MD curriculum moves from Phase I, normal structure and function, to Phase II, disease mechanisms and therapeutics, then core clerkships in the third year; the final year requires rotations in emergency medicine, radiology and community health. (Tulane University School of Medicine)
• Tulane's Step 1 dedicated-study plan for the Class of 2027 treats the NBME CBSSA practice exam as the readiness standard, looking for the last two practice scores to show a 98% or better probability of passing. (Tulane University School of Medicine)
• The same Tulane plan has students switch to blocks of random questions once every system is covered, about 120 questions a day, and block a day for a simulated test a week before the Step 1 date. (Tulane University School of Medicine)
• Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine was formed by Xavier University of Louisiana and Ochsner Health in 2024, earned LCME candidate status in October 2025, hosted its LCME survey visit in June 2026 and will recruit its inaugural class for summer 2027. (Ochsner Health)
• Ochsner notes that 60 of Louisiana's 64 parishes are federally designated Health Professional Shortage Areas. (Ochsner Health)
• Xavier Ochsner's first- and second-year classes will meet in Benson Tower in the New Orleans BioDistrict, and its third- and fourth-year students will do their clinical clerkships in Ochsner facilities. (Xavier University of Louisiana)
• Xavier said in 2024 that the college of medicine aims to seat 50 students in its first class. (Xavier University of Louisiana)

Sources: LCME, directory of accredited U.S. programs (checked October 29, 2026); AAMC FACTS, Table A-1, 2025-2026 (checked October 29, 2026); LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, Undergraduate Medical Education (checked November 1, 2026); Tulane University School of Medicine, MD Curriculum (checked November 1, 2026); Tulane University School of Medicine, Dedicated Study Plan, Step 1, Class of 2027 (checked November 1, 2026); Ochsner Health, Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine earns preliminary accreditation (checked November 1, 2026); Xavier University of Louisiana, Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine FAQs (checked November 1, 2026); Xavier University of Louisiana, XOCOM founding dean and Benson Tower announcement (checked November 1, 2026); ABIM, residency program pass rates 2023-2025 (checked October 29, 2026).

LSU: 21 months in the classroom, then clerkships in three cities

LSU's preclerkship phase runs 21 months, and the school says its goal is a foundation strong enough to carry students through their clinical rotations and USMLE Step 1. Then come a short clerkship preparation course, seven core clerkships and a career-planning elective (LSU Health New Orleans).

Not every LSU student spends the clerkship year in New Orleans: the clerkship phase can also be done at the regional campuses in Baton Rouge or Lafayette (LSU Health New Orleans). For shelf exams that matters less than students fear, because the NBME subject exam is the same wherever the rotation happens; what changes is the patient mix and how much teaching time the service leaves. We plan shelf review around the student's actual site and call schedule, not a generic block calendar.

The fourth year adds two acting internships, and Step 2 sits right before it: LSU students take Step 2 after the third year and must pass it to graduate (LSU Health New Orleans). In practice that puts Step 2 CK in the same months as away rotations and residency applications, so we build the CK plan from the student's last shelf scores instead of starting content review over.

Tulane's Step 1 dedicated period, and how we use it

Tulane's curriculum runs Phase I (normal structure and function) and Phase II (disease mechanisms and therapeutics) before the third-year clerkships, and its fourth year requires emergency medicine, radiology and community health rotations (Tulane curriculum).

The school's own Step 1 study plan for the Class of 2027 is specific about readiness. It treats the NBME CBSSA as the standard and looks for the last two practice scores to show a 98% or better probability of passing; it moves students to random question blocks, about 120 a day, once every system is covered, and keeps a day for a simulated exam a week before test day (Tulane Step 1 plan).

That is the same yardstick we use. A Tulane student who comes to us mid-dedicated usually has a CBSSA report already, and we start there: which systems are dragging the predicted score, whether misses are knowledge or reasoning, and whether the test date should hold. If two consecutive practice scores are not yet in the range the school asks for, we say so plainly and plan the weeks around closing that gap.

Xavier Ochsner, the city's newest school

Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine was formed by Xavier University of Louisiana and Ochsner Health in 2024, earned LCME candidate status in October 2025, hosted its LCME survey in June 2026 and will recruit an inaugural class for summer 2027 (Ochsner Health). Xavier said in 2024 that it aims to seat 50 students in the first class (Xavier University of Louisiana).

Its first two years will be taught in Benson Tower in the BioDistrict, and third- and fourth-year clerkships will run in Ochsner facilities (Xavier Ochsner FAQs). The need it is aimed at is statewide: 60 of Louisiana's 64 parishes are federally designated Health Professional Shortage Areas (Ochsner Health). As an MD school, its students will sit the same USMLE sequence as Tulane and LSU students.

Medical schools in New Orleans

Tulane University School of Medicine lists 640 students on Wikipedia.

School list: LCME and COCA lists, via the list of medical schools in the United States, checked October 2026.

Teaching hospitals in New Orleans

On the CMS teaching hospital list (October 2026):

• University Medical Ctr. at New Orleans, 2000 Canal Street, New Orleans, LA 70112
• Ochsner Clinic Foundation, 1516 Jefferson Highway, New Orleans, LA 70121
• Touro Infirmary, 1401 Foucher Street, New Orleans, LA 70115
• Ochsner Baptist Medical Center, 2700 Napoleon Ave., New Orleans, LA 70115
• Childrens Hospital, 200 Henry Clay Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70118

When New Orleans students must take the boards

LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine states: “In order to begin any senior rotations (excluding Flex blocks), a student must ... achieve a minimum passing score on the USMLE Step 1 examination as defined by the NBME. ... Students must pass USMLE Step 2 CK for completion of the fourth year and graduation.” (LSU Health New Orleans SOM Student Handbook, Section VII, 2025-2026).

The exams New Orleans students take, in order

Every New Orleans medical student is on the MD track, so the sequence is the USMLE: Step 1 (pass/fail since January 26, 2022), shelf exams at the end of each core clerkship, Step 2 CK, then Step 3 in residency.

Residents in the city's internal medicine programs later sit the ABIM exam: in 2023-2025, 88% of 98 first-time takers from Tulane's program passed, and 80% of 40 from the LSU program (ABIM).

Louisiana board rules for New Orleans graduates

Louisiana's board sets no cap on Step 1 attempts and allows four at each of Steps 2 and 3 (FSMB). The USMLE program's own limit of four attempts per Step still applies, so Step 1 is limited only by the program (USMLE eligibility rules).

How much New Orleans searches for board prep

For “shelf exam”, Google Trends ranks New Orleans 4th among US metro areas over the past five years, with a score of 66 out of 100. That fits a city where two MD schools rotate students through five teaching hospitals on the CMS list, from University Medical Center on Canal Street to Ochsner on Jefferson Highway (CMS teaching hospital list).

• “Shelf exam”: number 4 among US metro areas, score 66 of 100